Drug trafficker killed in border shootout with Israeli police

A smuggler was killed during a successful bust, yielding a massive seizure of illegal drugs.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

A drug trafficker attempting to smuggle drugs from Egypt past Israel’s southern border was killed in a shootout between the smugglers and Israeli police forces.

A special police unit was operating to counter some 30 drug smugglers on Sunday night who were passing drugs over the border fence. During the operation, the police came under fire from Egyptian smugglers on the other side of the border.

A gunfight then ensued between the smugglers and the police, and one of the smugglers, who was probably situated between the two sides at the time of the shooting, was killed.

Egyptian police forces also shot at the smugglers.

The victim, an Israeli citizen around age 25, was dumped near an IDF base by his colleagues, who then fled the scene. He was not carrying any form of identification and has yet to be identified.

The police forces also found a car loaded with drugs that was abandoned by the smugglers on the Israeli side of the border. Tens of kilograms of drugs were seized in the operation.